Notts County FC, empowered by the support shown by their re-awakened fan base, took the title. Lee Hughes scored 33 goals for the Magpies, and the club overcame a mid-season lull to finish strong and on top. Notts County had their highest average attendance in 16 years. The club drew 7,353 per game this season, a 65 percent increase from 08/09, when they drew 4,446 per game and finished in 19th place. This is a club that had finished in 21st place twice, 19th place twice and in 13th place in the last 5 seasons. Their new, mysterious foreign ownership had promised to invest heavily at the start of this season, and several top calibre players (for the fouth division, anyway), including goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, joined the squad (with celebrity executive Sven-Göran Erikson on board as well). But the Qatar-based owners pulled out in February, and Notts County were almost wound up. Sven is gone now too, and the club’s financial worries are still not over, but the bottom line is this…all the early season hype and media glare got the fans back into Meadow Lane, and now that the club has won promotion, the crowds should continue to swell. But the thing is, Notts County has never come close to filling their 19,500-seat ground on a regular basis.

The last, single, season Notts County were in the the top flight was in the last season of the old First Division (in 1991-92, under manager Neil Warnock). That season the Magpies drew 11,133 per game and were relegated. It was during that season, in January 1992, that the club made plans to rebuild three sides of Meadow Lane to make it the near-20,000 seat stadium it is today. But relegation and poor play in the following seasons saw average gates diminish as re-building and expansion continued. The average gate had dwindled to the 8,000-range for the next two seasons in the second tier, and by 1994-95, in the same season that the final re-building phase was completed, Notts County were relegated to the third tier (into the old Division Two). With their big new ground the Magpies then went through a 14 season period where they drew above 6,000 just once, drawing 6,154 per game in 2002-03.

Notts County’s second-most-recent top flight spell had been three seasons in the First Division in the 1980s, with the club drawing 11,613; 10,265; and 9,463 per game from 1981 to 1984. So why did a club, which had never pulled in more than 11,000 per game in the modern era, build a stadium that has an almost 20,000 capacity? My guess is jealousy of their (very) nearby rivals, Nottingham Forest. The two clubs have grounds the closest together of any clubs in England, separated by only 275 meters (300 yards) [you can see that in the photo on the far right in the Notts County section on the map]. When Nottingham Forest were in their heyday, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and winning trophies as recently as the 1989 and 1990 League Cup (and making a 1991 FA Cup finals appearance), it must have irritated the board at Notts County to see Nottingham Forest so big and (relatively) successful.
So when Notts County got that taste of the promised land (ie, first division football), in 1991-92, they re-built Meadow Lane too big for their fan base, believing they could increase their support as they consolidated their position in the top flight. The exact opposite happened. They were relegated that season and have never had an average attendance of higher than 10,000 per game since. I’m not saying Notts County are akin to a club like Darlington FC, in building an empty white elephant of a stadium that will never be filled on a regular basis, but over a decade of playing to 25% capacity or less cannot have been good for Notts County or their supporters.
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Second place and automatic promotion goes to AFC Bournemouth. The Cherries also saw an increase at the turnstiles, though more modest…Bournemouth drew 5,720 per game (up 16% from 08.09). Brett Pitman scored 28 goals for Bournemouth this season. Two years on from their finanancial meltown and administration, Bournemouth are a club on the rise. It could be argued that this is a club that definitely belongs in the third tier and perhaps ever the second tier, if one were to go by city population, because Bournemouth is in the top 30 largest cities in England, List of towns and cities in England by population [en.wikipedia.org].
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Third place and automatic promotion goes to the longest-running non-promoted club in the League, Rochdale AFC. 36 seasons in the fourth division, and finally a promotion. Well done to irrepressible manager Keith Hill, their goal-scoring tandem of Chris O’Grady (22 goals) and Chris Dagnall (20 goals), and the league’s stand-out defender, the young and promising Rochdale-born Craig Dawson, who has eschewed signing with a bigger club for next season, opting instead to continue contributing to the success of his hometown club.
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The League Two 2009-120 Play-Off features one down-on-their-luck-but-finding-revitalization club, Rotherham United; and three small clubs that five years ago were not even in the League…Morecambe, Aldershot Town, and Dagenham & Redbridge.
In the first legs… Rotherham snatched a late goal at Aldershot, when former Rochdale striker Adam LeFondre stole a back pass and netted. Second leg is Wednesday, 19th May in at The don Valley Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
Meanwhile, in East London, Dagenham demolished Morecambe 6-0, with a double-brace from Joshua Scott and a brace from Paul Benson (who had scored 18 goals this season). Second leg is up in Lancashire at Morecambe’s Christie Patk on Thursday, 20th May.
League Two fixtures, here, (news.bbc.co.uk).
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Morecambe will say goodbye to Christie Road, as they are set to move into their new stadium in August. From FC Business.co.uk, “Morecambe’s new 12 million-pound stadium to be called ‘Globe Arena’ [16 Feb., 2010]. www.morecambestadium.co.uk, Globe Arena, Morecambe FC. There is a new Morecambe logo as well, New Morecambe crest- what do you think? (www.thevisitor.co.uk)
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Thanks to BBC/Nottingham, Aerial photographs of Nottingham. Thanks to Bing.com/maps, Meadow Lane [Birds-Eye view]. Thanks to Jazza5 and Berndt Jatzwauk at en.wikipedia.org, Meadow Lane.

May 12, 2010

It was a nail biting final match day last Saturday in League One. Charlton, then Millwall had the edge up to finish in the crucial second spot, and automatic promotion. Then 10-man Leeds scored twice on Bristol Rovers in the space of 5 minutes, with goals from Jonathan Howson in the 59th minute, and from Jermaine Beckford in the 63rd minute. Leeds United returns to the League Championship along with table-topper Norwich City.
Both promoted clubs had pretty good results at the turnstiles (for big clubs being stuck in the third division, that is), with Leeds drawing 24,818 per game (up 3% from 08/09), and Norwich averaging 24,617 per game (up 1% from 08/09).
The four playoff clubs all were in the top 8 of average attendance in League One. The just-relegated Charlton Athletic saw a sharp drop in attendance, to 17,407 per game (-17% from 08/09). Huddersfield Town has continued with it’s cut-rate season tickets promotion, and drew 14,381 per game (+8% from 08/09). Millwall overcame the disappointment of losing in the Play-Off final to Scunthorpe United in 2008-09. This season Millwall had decent gates, as the Lions remained competitive and exciting all season, drawing 10,835 per game (+21% from 08/09). Swindon Town also saw an increase, though more modest, as the Robins went from being a relegation-threatened side (in 2008-09) to a promotion challenger. Swindon drew 8,389 per game (+12%).

Other high-drawing clubs in League One in 2009-10 that did not win promotion, or make the playoff, were Southampton, who drew 20,982 per game (an 18% increase from 08/09), and MK Dons, who drew 10,290 per game (a 2% decrease from 08/09).
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The four clubs battling for the third promotion spot are Millwall, Charlton Athletic, Swindon Town, and Huddersfield Town. Play-Off fixtures here, League 1 Play-Offs Confirmed (Football League site).
Friday, 14 May, at The County Ground in Wiltshire, it’s Swindon Town v. Charlton Athletic; with the return leg on Monday, 17 May, at The Valley in Charlton, Greewnwich, South East London.
Saturday, 15 May, at the Galpharm Stadium in West Yorkshire, it’s Huddersfield Town v. Millwall; with the return leg on Tuesday, 18 May at the New Den in Bermondsey, Lewisham, South East London.
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Thanks to Mike Avery’s Non-League Football site, Football League One Attendance Grids and Charts 2009-2010.
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Thanks to The Pinkun’, a Norwich-based weekly newspaper and website, The Pink’un newspaper. Thanks to Mskau at Panoramio.com, Carrow Road “Come on you Yellows”. Thanks to Away Grounds.com, League One Grounds, at www.awaygrounds.com.

Play-Off dates… Play-Off dates announced (The Football League site).League Championship Play-Off fixtures, Championship Play-Offs Confirmed.
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On the right of the map are the 2 clubs automatically promoted to the Premier League for the 2010-11 season…Newcastle United, and West Bromwich Albion, both of whom bounce straight back to the top flight. Shown in each club’s profile box are major domestic titles and League history; 2009-10 average attendance; 2009-10 kits; and 4 photos of the club’s ground. Ditto for the 4 Play-Off clubs (on the left of the map). The four play-off clubs will vie for the third promotion spot…with two legged match-ups of Nottingham Forest versus Blackpool; and Cardiff City versus Leicester City. The first legs are Saturday 8th May (Blackpool hosting Forest) and Sunday, 9th May 9 (Leicester hosting Cardiff). Second legs are Tuesday the 11th (at City Ground) and Wednesday the 12th (at the brand new Cardiff City Stadium). The winners will advance to the Play-off final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, 22nd May.
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Attendance figures of the 6 clubs are shown at the upper right on the map page. Here are attendance figures for the whole League Championship this season, Attendance table, League Championship (ITV.com).
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Thanks to Toon Toon Blog, Toon Toon Blog. Thanks to j lord at Flickr.com, j loord’s photosream @ flickr.com. Thanks to Down at thr Mac- the Huddersfield Town fansite, DATM. Thanks to poity_uk at Flickr.com, poiy_uk’s photostream @flickr.com.

April 27, 2010

Stevenage Borough will play in the Football League next season for the first time in their 35 year history. Stevenage Borough were famously denied entrance into the Football League in 1996, when, after winning the Conference, their automatic promotion was denied due to their ground being below standards. So 14 years later, it’s payback time for Stevenage and their fans. In the interim, the club had improved their ground, Broadhall Way, to the point where it was considered one of the top facilities in the Conference. This season, Stevenage saw a 30% increase in average attendance, to a very respectable 2,589 per game.
That still was far below the two turnstile giants of Non-League football these days…Luton Town and Oxford United, who both have averaged in the 6,000s this season. Average attendances of the top 5 clubs in the Conference are listed on the left on the map page. The following link shows average attendances in the Conference this season…Conference Premier Attendance Grids and Charts 2009-2010 (www.mikeavery.co.uk).

The four clubs competing for the other promotion spot to League Two are: Luton Town, Oxford United, Rushden & Diamonds, and York City. All four of the playoff clubs have League history, and their relegations from the League are noted in their club profile box. Also listed are the number of seasons spent in each of the top 5 levels of English football, and the club’s 09/10 kits. Also included in the profile boxes are three photos of each club’s home ground.
On the map I have listed the 23 clubs that competed in the 2009-10 Conference. The odd-number of clubs is due to the mid-season expulsion of Chester City.
That made relegation a matter of three other clubs, and those relegated this season were: Grays Athletic, Ebbsfleet United, and Forest Green Rovers. However, Salisbury City were penalized for failing to pay creditors, and were relegated two levels to the Southern Premier League, in the 7th Level. This was made official on 12th June. Forest Green Rovers, as the highest-placed relegated club, were thus re-instated into the Blue Square Premier League for the 2010-11 season.
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Once you click to get on to the main map page, the map of Greater London is viewable in full screen when you click near the center of the map…right on the rectangular Millwall crest. Besides showing the ceremonial counties which ring Greater London, I added surrounding towns. I did this with Google Earth, and then I checked town populations; sorry if I missed any significant towns. I added a few details in central London…Hyde Park, Regents Park, Parliament, and the boundaries of The City of London.

The crests of all the clubs on the map itself are all the same size, while the crests next to each club’s profile are sized to reflect domestic league average attendance from 7 December, 2009. The 15 clubs’ average attendances are listed at the far left.
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The following link has the list of all London football clubs in the top 8 Levels, including the 15 clubs on the map, plus the 3 London-based clubs in the Conference-South (6th Level), and the 23 London-based clubs in the Isthmian Leagues (7th and 8th Levels) [aka Ryman Leagues]…{click here (Football Clubs in London page at Wikipedia)}.
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Here is a nice site called Football In London. It’s by a German fan, but it’s in English. It has lots of info on all the Premier League clubs and Football League clubs from London [for 2010-11, it is again 13 clubs from London that are in the top 4 Levels], including plenty of photos of each club’s ground… fussballinlondon.de

Thanks to ITV for gate figures and percent capacity figures {click here}. Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org {click here (set at Hayes & Yeading page)}.

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The gate figures are from the 2008-09 season. The cut-off for this map was 4,000 per game. Each club’s crest is sized to reflect the club’s average home attendance from their 2008-09 domestic league matches.

At the top of the map, the banner lists the breakdown of clubs which made this map, by league level. Here it is… All 20 Premier League clubs. All 24 League Championship clubs. 21 of the 24 League One clubs (the 3 clubs not making the map being Cheltenham Town, Hartlepool Utd, and Hereford Utd, who all all drew in the 3,000s). 11 of the 24 League Two clubs {to see the 13 League Two clubs that drew lower than 4,000 last season, click on the following title- 2008-09_league_two_attendance.gif }. The sole Non-League club that drew over 4,000 last season was Oxford Utd.

After all the promotions and relegations that occurred in May, 2009, here is the current [2009-10] breakdown of the clubs on the map…All 20 Premier League clubs.All 24 League Championship clubs.23 of the 24 League One clubs (the exception being plucky little Hartlepool United, who drew only 3,835, and managed to avoid relegation by 1 point). 8 League Two clubs: Bradford City, Shrewsbury Town, Port Vale, Northampton Town, AFC Bournemouth, Crewe Alexandra, Grimsby Town, and Notts County. 2 Non-League clubs: the Blue Square Premier League’s Oxford Utd, and the beleaguered Luton Town.

August 11, 2009

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On the map, all club crests are the same size. On the right, the crests are sized to reflect the clubs’ 08/09 average attendance, and are displayed in order of largest to smallest gate figures. On the far right are thumbnail lists for each club, with the club’s finish in the last 2 seasons; the club’s highest finish; total seasons the club has spent in the top flight; and Major Titles (English Title, FA Cup, and League Cup) / Significant Titles (Football League Trophy, which is for 3rd and 4th Level clubs).

Here are the 09/10 kits for Premier League clubs, from the Historical football Kits site {click here}.

Thanks to Tony’s English Football site, for attendance figures {click here}. Thanks to the FootyMad sites, for clubs’ League histories {click here (set at Premier League)}. Thanks to the contributors to the pages at Wikipedia {click here (set at 2009-10 Premier League)}.

August 5, 2009

Football League Two is the 4th Level of football in England, and the lowest rung of League football. The season starts Saturday, 8th August; here are fixtures {click here (Sky Sports/ League 2)}.

League Two Preview, from the Guardian.uk, by Mikey Stafford {click here}.

**Recommended…’The 2009/10 Preview: League Two (Division Four, In Old Money)’, by Rob Freeman, at TwoHundredPercent.net {click here}.

Promotion favorites: {click here (Statto.com)}. The oddsmakers have made these clubs the favorites for promotion [Note: unlike the higher levels, 4 clubs, not 3 clubs, get promoted to League One each season]… Notts County (on the strength of their new, deep-pocketed owners and the appointment of Sven Göran-Eriksson as Director of Football) Rotherham United; Bradford City; Shrewsbury Town (who lost in May at Wembley to Gillingham, in the Playoffs Final); Northampton Town; and Bury (who lost in the 1st Round of the Playoffs in May). Also rated for promotion are Bournemouth, Chesterfield, and Rochdale (who lost in the Playoffs 1st Round in May).

Here is an article on the recent events at Nottingham’s less prominent club, Notts County, called ‘Sven on the Trent? Don’t laugh, this could well be the future’ {click here (Guardian.co.uk article from 22nd July, by Barney Ronay)}.

Here are the 09/10 kits, from the Historical Football Kits site {click here}.

Thanks to the FootyMad.net sites, for their League History sections on each club {click here (FootyMad / League Two)}. Thanks to Tony’s English Football Site, for attendance figures {click here}. Thanks to the contributors to the pages at Wikipedia {click here (set at 2009-10 Football League Two)}.

July 22, 2009

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The map shows the 24 clubs in the 2009-10 season of the English Football League Championship, which is the 2nd Level of professional football in England and Wales.

Here are the oddsmaker’s picks for the best promotion candidates in the Championship this season {click here (Statto.com)}. The three clubs that were relegated from the Premier League in May are the three favorites for promotion back to the top flight…Newcastle United, West Bromwich Albion, and Middlesabrough. Also highly rated for promotion are Ipswich Town (on the strength of new manager Roy Keane); Sheffield United (who, with their large attendances, have been perennial favorites for the jump three seasons running now); and Reading (despite a horrible second half of last season). It is interesting that even with all the cash at their owners’ disposal, Queens Park Rangers are now less highly rated for promotion. QPR has the 7th best odds for promotion now, versus second-best odds for promotion one year ago. All those managerial changes and the accompanying front office discord have taken the shine off noveuu-riche QPR’s potential, it seems. Also, note how decently-rated the three East Midlands clubs are, at 9th, 10th, and 11th best odds for promotion… Nottingham Forest, Derby County, and Leicester City. Forest had a tough time of it last season in their return to the 2nd Level; Derby County had an abysmal season following their horrendous last-place stint in the Premier League (in 07/08); while Leicester has just bounced straight back to the Championship following their first-ever season in the 3rd Level. All three clubs have solid fan bases and will draw well, and that certainly can’t hurt their chances.

Here is a 2009-2010 League Championship preview, from SportingLife.com, written by Pete Thompson {click here}.

**Here are the kits for the clubs in the 2009-2010 League Championship, from the Historical Football Kits site {click here}.

Thanks to the E-F-S site, for attendance figures {click here}. Thanks to the contributors to the pages at Wikipedia {click here (set at League Championship 09/10 season)}. Thanks to the FootyMad.net sites, for each club’s League history {click here (set at League Championship main page)}.

July 14, 2009

This map begins my 2009-2010 English Football category. I started with League One, which is the 3rd Level in England, because a viewer posted a comment in which he asked me for the map (he’s a Norwich City supporter). Plus I am fascinated by League One…the way-station between the upper leagues and the lower leagues, and the league that these days usually features the biggest disparity in clubs’ average attendances [but not this season, thanks to Newcastle' United's relegation to the 2nd Level].

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I have kept the same framework for this map as last season {you can see my League One 08/09 map, w/ attendances from 07/08, here}. But with this map, I have added information on… A). each club’s past two seasons (ie, where they finished in the table); B). each club’s highest-ever finish; C). each club’s Major Titles (if any) / or significant Titles [well, I wanted to list FA Trophy Titles- three clubs here (Colchester United, Wycombe Wanderers, and Yeovil Town) have won it- and I didn't want to call the cup competition of Non-League Football a major Title]; and D. the total seasons each club has spent in the 1st Level (if appilcable).

One interesting aspect of the 2009-2010 League One season is that all 7 of the newly arrived clubs are from the south of England…the three clubs relegated from the 2nd Level (the League Championship): Charlton Athletic, Norwich City, and Southampton; and the four clubs promoted from the 4th Level (League Two): Brentford, Exeter City, Gillingham, and Wycombe Wanderers.

As has been the case for the last decade, again League One will feature some pretty big clubs that have spent significant time in the top flight, but have currently fallen on hard times. In addition to Leeds United beginning their third season in the third tier, there are 3 more clubs which traditionally draw more than 20,000 per game…the aforementioned three clubs that were relegated from the League Championship. Incidently, while on the subject of the higher-drawing clubs here, Huddersfield Town had a 37 percent increase in their average attendance last year primarily because they slashed season ticket prices. Another West Yorkshire club, the League Two side Bradford, has had success with this policy for the last two seasons, and Huddersfield followed suit. Maybe other lower division clubs will take notice.

Here are the oddsmakers’ picks for the best promotion candidates in League One this season {click here (Statto.com)}. Not surprisingly, Leeds United tops the list. Other clubs highly rated for promotion are Norwich City, Charlton Athletic, last season’s 3rd-place finisher MK Dons, Huddersfield Town, Brighton & Hove Albion, and last season’s Playoff finalist Millwall.

I have included this link to the web version of the weekly Norwich newspaper called the Pink’Un {click here}. Here is their away grounds [ie, League One 09/10] guide {click here}.

Here is the Historical Football Kits site’s page on the kits in League One for the 2009-2010 season {click here}.

Thanks to the Footy-Mad sites, for their indispensible League History lists for all the football clubs {click here (set at Footy-Mad / League One main page)}. Thanks to E-F-S site, for attendance figures {click here}. Thanks to Huddersfield Town FC official site {click here}. Thanks to the contributors to the pages at Wikipedia {click here}.